Mars Ancient Oceans
Could this have been Mars 3.5 billion years ago? Accumulating evidence from spacecraft like the Mars Reconniassance Orbiter shows signs of river networks on the surface. New research from the MRO laser altimeter, to be published in Nature Geoscience on June 13, shows that many river deltas were at exactly the same elevation 3.5 billion years in the past. This would indicate that the deltas all fed into one enormous ocean.
3.5 billion years is also the approximate age of carbonate globules found in meteortie ALH84001. These globules are one of four lines of evidence indicating Martian life from the metorite. This discovery from 1996 energized the new science of astrobiology. Recent work by Kathy Thomas-Keprta and colleagues at Johnson Space Center strengthens the case for ancient Martian life. This life could have thrived in an ancient ocean.
The "Faint Young Sun" hypothesis stated that the early Sun was 25% less luminous. Both Earth and Mars would have been frozen solid. The appearance of life would have been unlikely. Solar luminosity would continually increase (lower line) until Earth's oceans would boil. This astrophysical theory is not supported by evidence. Overwhelming evidence shows that both planets were warm enough for liquid water and life.
The Sun turns fuel to energy according to E=mc^2. If the speed of light c had increased at GM=tc^3 predicts, solar luminosity would be nearly constant (upper line). Earth would have conditions for life to evolve over billions of years. The fact that life exists to read this article is evidence that the speed of light has changed in precisely the amounts predicted.
Labels: mars, speed of light
posted by L. Riofrio at 9:35 AM
3 Comments:
One theory of emergent life on earth is that it began underground, and emerged to surface later. This would hint to that theory.
Why did the atmosphere on Mars disappear? I have asked that before. Was the growing sun activity the reason? Or are there some dangerous belt on the sun orbit or still a larger orbit?
This also makes life on other suitable planets much more probable.
The disappearance of Mars' atmosphere is still a mystery. Two hints may be the planet's lack of a magnetic field or geologic heat. Those would both be possible signs of a tiny Black Hole in the core.
If the Black Hole evaporated early in Mars' history, internal heat would dissipate. Life's evolution underground would be interrupted. A carbon dioxide atmosphere would become frozen into carbonate rocks, with no vulcanism to replenish it.
Earth's atmosphere and life may owe their existence to a tiny Black Hole.
The link below leads to an analysis of putative Martian shorelines showing that the lines are most likely produced by pooled water or ice:
http://mysite.verizon.net/rickmsmith/MarsOceanProject.html
The analysis uses an accurate three-dimensional model of Mars
(using MOLA data) to analyze the shorelines reported by Clifford and
Parker (2001) and shows that the lines are, in fact, equipotentials - like a bathtub ring - delineating the shorelines of former oceans.
There most certainly was an ocean on Mars in ancient times.
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